Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami, Jammu and Kashmir legislator and senior leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), has urged the Centre to make a credible effort to reach out to the people of the strife-torn State.
Delivering the 15{+t}{+h}N. Narendran Memorial Lecture on ‘Kashmir: The Way Forward’ at the Press Club here on Sunday, Mr. Tarigami called for a course-correction in the Centre’s approach towards Jammu and Kashmir. He stressed the need to initiate talks with all stakeholders who have different shades of opinion, including those who were not part of the democratic process.
“You (the Central government) have held talks with Naga rebels with the objective of attaining peace in the region. During the rule of the Vajpayee government, the then Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani had offered to hold talks with the Hizbul Mujahideen, despite certain quarters questioning the rationale behind the move,” he said.
He added that, in 2010, an all-party delegation led by the then Home Minister P. Chidambaram and comprising current Union Ministers Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj had called on separatist leaders, including Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Mohammed Yasin Malik. “While the Bharatiya Janata Party had been part of such initiatives, why does the party object to similar confidence-building measures now,” he asked.
Denial of rights
Mr. Tarigami held the view that the ongoing crisis and the death of militant Burhan Wani could not be seen in isolation, but as the fallout of the wrong Kashmir policy followed by successive governments at the Centre. There has never been a serious effort to understand the prevailing situation, which has basically been borne out of the denial of rights that had been guaranteed for the people of Jammu and Kashmir under the Constitution during the accession of Kashmir to India.
“Having borne the brunt of several injustices, hopelessness among the common populace has given way to desperation, which is an open ground for breeding extremism. This has led to a situation in which the common man, predominantly the youngsters, took out marches to the police stations and military camps,” he said.
He was also critical of the stance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who was yet to speak on the issue of the ongoing turmoil which has witnessed the death of over 50 people and several going blind owing to the use of pellet guns.
